These two people had an unclear background, and everyone became more vigilant.

Noticing this, the chubby middle-aged man smiled and said, “You all must be the Guardians of the Sky from Huaguo, right?”

Song Qinglan, not too politely, asked, “Who are you?”

The middle-aged man replied, “No need to be nervous, we’re just passing through.”

In this “cube” that connects different timelines, it’s understandable that people avoid discussing the era they come from.

However, as Guardians, regardless of the era or world they come from, they can usually identify each other—since they were all brought here by the Sky system to complete missions.

But these two seemed different.

Unlike the usual Guardians who are quick and fearless, these two had a more peaceful demeanor, making it hard to sense any tension, as if this place wasn’t dangerous to them.

The scholarly-looking man with glasses noticed the marks on the ground and asked, “I’ve noticed that the rooms are decreasing and there are more and more of these marks. Are you completing the connections?”

All those marks were made by Ji Yushi, and apart from him and the bearded man, who was somewhere unknown, no one else could understand them.

Uncertain of their intentions, no one responded.

The scholarly man didn’t mind their attitude and smiled gently. “If it’s you, then you’re really impressive.”

Looking past the people standing in the room, the scholarly man saw Ji Yushi sitting on the floor.

Song Qinglan followed his gaze and frowned deeply.

Ji Yushi’s face was pale, and his expression was panicked. Somehow, he looked worse than he had before resting. He was sitting on the floor, not even standing up, and was staring intently at these two strangers.

No, to be precise, he was staring at the one wearing glasses.

Ji Yushi rarely acted like this. He was usually not one to initiate social interactions.

Not only Song Qinglan, but even Duan Wen and Zhou Mingxuan noticed something was off with Ji Yushi.

“Consultant Ji?”

This stranger, already middle-aged and well-mannered, politely nodded at Ji Yushi, despite the direct gaze and expression.

Seeing the black-and-white gaming console in Ji Yushi’s hand, he even commented, “What a coincidence, my son has a similar console.”

Ji Yushi’s console was already quite old.

It didn’t belong to his time, being a retro product.

Could these two strangers be from a long time ago?

Everyone had this suspicion in their minds.

“It is a coincidence,” Ji Yushi finally spoke.

For some reason, his usually clear voice seemed muffled, not exactly unpleasant but difficult to hear clearly.

Ji Yushi sat there dazed, looking at the man, seemingly in a daze.

He looked just like many other lost travelers in this “cube,” exhausted and on the verge of collapse.

The two claimed they were just passing through, and indeed, they had no other purpose, nor did they say anything else to the four Guardians from Huaguo.

They took the blue sphere floating in the air, checked the surrounding colors, and chose a door to open.

The chubby middle-aged man went first, climbing slowly and with difficulty.

The scholarly man patiently waited.

As if sensing something, he glanced back at Ji Yushi, who was sitting in the corner.

Ji Yushi had his head lowered, his thin profile rigid, but he didn’t look at him again.

His hands, however, were still tightly gripping the console, squeezing so hard that his fingertips had turned white.

A companion called out to the man, “Old Sheng! Come on!”

The man replied, “Coming!”

“Beep——”

The round door closed.

The two strangers disappeared behind the wall.

“What were those two up to?” Duan Wen was puzzled. “They were just wandering around like they were on a stroll.”

“No idea.” Zhou Mingxuan also found it odd and joked, “Maybe they’re civilian time travelers. Haven’t you heard? Our mysterious profession is actually the dream of many people, and plenty of folks are secretly dabbling in illegal time travel.”

Ji Yushi said, “Let’s go.”

Ji Yushi’s voice sounded much better than when he had spoken earlier, but there was still something off.

When he looked up, everyone noticed his face was so pale it was almost translucent. If it weren’t for the hint of red at the corner of his eyes, he would have looked more composed, rational, and inscrutable than ever.

Duan Wen said, “Consultant Ji, you don’t look well.”

Zhou Mingxuan added, “We just got here. How about resting a bit longer?”

“How are you feeling?”

Song Qinglan asked, clearly not agreeing with Ji Yushi leaving in his current state.

They had just argued about this.

“I’m fine,” Ji Yushi replied calmly, as usual.

Song Qinglan watched as he stood up to retrieve the blue sphere that had bounced back to the center of the room.

Suddenly, Song Qinglan thought that the back of the man with glasses, wearing the white shirt, looked somewhat familiar—if Ji Yushi were still wearing the white shirt he had worn when they first met.

Song Qinglan keenly sensed something unusual.

Ji Yushi’s reaction might be related to that man. Perhaps that man was from an earlier time period—could it be someone Ji Yushi had encountered during a mission as a recorder? Song Qinglan wanted to ask, but Ji Yushi had already opened the new round door.

Ignoring Song Qinglan’s earlier demand that he rest before continuing, he didn’t seem interested in discussing it.

Ji Yushi simply informed them, “This way.”

Song Qinglan suppressed his emotions and told his teammates, “Let’s go.”

This time, their progress was noticeably faster and more efficient.

Aside from calculations and experiments, Ji Yushi said almost nothing, not a single word unrelated to the mission.

Everyone noticed he was different, assuming it was due to his eagerness to complete the mission. Only Song Qinglan noticed that Ji Yushi seemed to repeatedly suppress the urge to look back, even though that room had already moved who knows where.

“Yellow,” Ji Yushi mechanically announced, “The 20th.”

They left the yellow room, which was pieced together from 20 other rooms, and prepared to enter a new blue room.

The blue room ahead was covered with dense markings from different people, different cultures, almost filling every blank space on the walls.

“Beep——”

Someone else opened a round door on the other side.

It was a group of unfamiliar travelers, who stared at them from across the blue room.

As the rooms decreased, every room with numerous markings could potentially be the last one, and Team Seven encountered their first direct competitors.

The blue room contained recorded images of a team of people.

It seemed to be the same team that was staring at them now.

“Give up!” someone shouted in English. “We’ve already figured out the time difference in this blue room, which is why we came back. We have a better chance of piecing it together than you do!”

Duan Wen responded, “Why should we give up?!”

The other group drew a gun. “Please?”

Duan Wen cursed, “Damn it!!”

“Let them have it,” Ji Yushi said. “This isn’t the last one.”

Song Qinglan asked, “What did you notice?”

Ji Yushi replied, “The ’29’ mark inside isn’t the one I used to mislead them. So it definitely isn’t the last blue room.”

In the slow-motion blue room, they had been tricked once, and Ji Yushi had once taken a small revenge on them.

It was just two ordinary Arabic numbers. When Ji Yushi wrote them, he even imitated the handwriting of that group, so it was impossible for anyone else to tell the difference.

But if Ji Yushi said it wasn’t, then it wasn’t.

Duan Wen immediately turned back to tell the group, “It’s all yours!”

Ji Yushi had already chosen a different path. “There’s a purple room here, and it’s the second most completed after blue. Let’s hurry.”

Everyone quickly followed.

Team Seven then experienced new conquests and struggles.

They successively gave up red, yellow, and purple rooms, each time surrendering them willingly. Duan Wen and Zhou Mingxuan became increasingly anxious, while Ji Yushi remained calm throughout. After a few more rounds, it was clear that the number of rooms had significantly decreased, and they encountered Lin Xinlan again.

Team Nine had gathered together, and their luck was far better than Team Seven’s.

“54 red rooms completed!” Lin Xinlan shouted up at them from the room below. “Captain Song, who do you think will complete the mission, you or me?”

Lin Xinlan’s teammates had stumbled around the red rooms by chance.

It seemed Lin Xinlan had also gone to the central block, and although he didn’t understand how it worked, he had figured out the connection method through Ji Yushi’s analysis and the decreasing number of rooms.

Song Qinglan looked down at them coldly and said, “It’s not me; it’s us. We will complete the mission.”

Lin Xinlan smiled, “Really? How about a bet? If you lose, you agree to do one thing for me. If I lose, I’ll tell you a secret.”

Song Qinglan said, “Not interested.”

Lin Xinlan didn’t mind his attitude and added, “Give my regards to Consultant Ji for me.”

Everyone: “…”

Ji Yushi stood up, “Let’s go.”

The round door closed.

Another round door opened on the other side, revealing two identical faces: “Captain Song!!!”

It was Tang Qi and Tang Le!

Tang Le, seeing the captain and the rest of the team, was almost moved to tears and quickly climbed down the ladder.

Tang Qi followed closely behind but asked, “Where’s Li Chun?”

Song Qinglan’s expression turned serious, sensing something was wrong. “Consultant Ji said you were with him.”

Tang Qi gritted his teeth, “Damn it, he went off to help an injured girl and got separated!”

Everyone: “…”

That’s Li Chun for you.

The group started chattering, venting their frustrations and cursing Li Chun, who wasn’t there, thoroughly. Even Song Qinglan was a bit angry—at such a critical moment when they were close to completing the mission, if they followed the rules given by the Sky Vault system, those who were eliminated by death would lose their qualification for the mission. If something happened to Li Chun, he wouldn’t get the final victory settlement.

Ji Yushi opened his communicator, looked at the simulated cube he had drawn on the holographic projection, and interrupted their complaints: “Now that there are six of us, we can split up.”

Song Qinglan: “Split up?”

“Split up?!”

“That doesn’t seem appropriate!”

“What if something happens to someone? How would we regroup?”

“I’ll send everyone a copy of the simulation map.”

Everyone could see that Ji Yushi was in a hurry, and they also noticed that he wasn’t in a good state.

But they all knew that Ji Yushi was not someone who would make rash decisions or act irresponsibly just because he was in a hurry.

Ji Yushi calmly and rationally explained to everyone, “We’ve already analyzed this; this is a multi-person task, and teams with more members have a higher chance of winning. Before, there were too many rooms and not enough people. Now, with six of us, it’s enough to split up and take different routes. The surrounding rooms are very few now, so we can easily scout for each other and switch routes flexibly.”

“Alright,” Song Qinglan agreed after a few seconds of thought. “Unlike them, we don’t have any competition among ourselves. The only goal of splitting up is to complete each route. If you’re blocked, don’t rush; just switch to another route while ensuring your safety.”

If they delayed any longer, they would indeed lose.

This was undoubtedly a risky move to achieve victory.

None of the members of Team Seven were cowards. They had already sacrificed too much for victory, for the chance to go home.

Ji Yushi sent the simulation map to everyone’s communicators. The colors around the rooms were uneven, so they first split into two groups and scattered.

They said their goodbyes in the current room.

Duan Wen, Tang Qi, and Tang Le formed one group.

Zhou Mingxuan, Song Qinglan, and Ji Yushi formed the other.

After moving into the second room, Zhou Mingxuan separated from them.

Song Qinglan and Ji Yushi separated in the fourth room, and after going through three rooms alone, they met again in a new room, then separated once more.

As the number of rooms decreased, their chances of running into each other became more frequent.

During one encounter, Duan Wen said, “I’ve run into those bastards from Team Nine twice already, but I haven’t seen those two people.”

He was referring to the two people who didn’t seem like travelers.

Song Qinglan glanced at Ji Yushi, who had regained his composure, and calmly said, “We won’t see them again.”

They continued the mission, repeating the process of splitting up, meeting, and exchanging routes.

They would encounter different teammates in different rooms and also meet an increasing number of travelers.

Finally, they noticed that the blue rooms had disappeared.

One of the cube’s six faces opened into darkness, and at the same time, Duan Wen, who had been piecing together the blue rooms, disappeared.

Ji Yushi ran into Song Qinglan again before entering the last room with a red sphere.

The room recorded the dying moments of a traveler.

She was kneeling on the ground, her skin slowly peeling off until it exposed her bones, layer by layer, turning into a white skeleton.

Her agonized screams in her final moments, the golden short hair that fell off with her scalp, and the gun in her hand—all helped Ji Yushi identify her.

After separating from Zoe, she had chosen the red room again.

She had been valiant and brave, but she hadn’t made it to the end.

Standing together on the ladder, Song Qinglan watched Ji Yushi’s reaction closely.

Song Qinglan grabbed his shoulder and said sternly, “Stop looking. Let me take this route.”

But Ji Yushi seemed unconcerned.

Standing so close, he said, “Captain Song, I warned you.”

Song Qinglan’s breath caught.

Ji Yushi’s condition was bad, perhaps the worst it had ever been.

Song Qinglan saw the cold sweat on his pale forehead, his trembling long eyelashes, and the reckless determination in his eyes.

“Ji Yushi!”

Before Song Qinglan could stop him, Ji Yushi quickly climbed down the ladder and entered the room on his own.

“Beep——”

The round door closed.

The sphere that had been in Ji Yushi’s hand bounced back to its original place.

With Ji Yushi’s departure, Song Qinglan could only watch as he was moved in a different direction: “…”

In these maze-like cubes, Ji Yushi’s figure was no longer visible.

In the darkness, a new silhouette gradually emerged.

The teammates waiting in the central block craned their necks, finally seeing another teammate who had completed the connection.

The person stood tall, with fair skin, easily attracting everyone’s attention amidst countless dazzling lights.

“It’s Consultant Ji!” Duan Wen shouted, “Hey, only Captain Song is left!”

Besides Duan Wen, Tang Qi, Tang Le, and Zhou Mingxuan were there, along with a dozen or so unfamiliar travelers.

They were all people who had completed the connections.

Ji Yushi approached with a hint of confusion in his expression.

He had long known that during the movement of the rooms, some people would die due to errors in time calculations, and some travelers would be counted as having cooperatively completed the task. The chances of all six timelines being fully connected by Team Seven were very small. However, he didn’t understand how this so-called super S-level multi-person task would be settled.

People gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves.

Every time a traveler entered the central block, their expressions would change slightly.

They all stood together, waiting for a while before Song Qinglan finally emerged from the darkness—he had completed the final color connection.

“Congratulations, you have completed the new super S-level task, 【Rubik’s Cube】.”

Unexpectedly, the gentle voice of the Sky Vault system sounded in everyone’s ears, automatically switching to different contexts and languages as it fell upon them.

All the travelers stopped talking.

“Guardians from the Star Era 1456, congratulations on completing the multi-person task together with other travelers from different timelines. You have completed multiple Rubik’s Cube connections, standing out as the victors of this task.”

At that moment, everyone felt a surge of finality.

So that’s how it was—the team that completed the most connections won, and only they would receive the settlement.

The unfamiliar travelers began to disappear one by one around them, sent back to their original timelines by the Sky system as runners-up.

Unbeknownst to them, this evoked envy from the members of Team Seven.

They didn’t desire victory for any rewards; they just wanted to return to their own timelines, like those innocent travelers who had been involved.

However, what the Sky Vault system said next left everyone in a state of shock and disbelief.

“You have completed all the tasks I have assigned to you.”

“You now have the option to retain your reward and proceed to the next task, or return to your timeline and immediately use your reward.”

Everyone in Team Seven was stunned.

Could they… go home now?

There was a long moment of silence.

Illusion, deception, reality—no one could truly believe that this time it would be a genuine return.

Yet the thought of going home, like a tantalizing piece of cake dangled before the starving, still stirred an uncontrollable desire within them.

Could it be real this time?

Could they really be free from this abduction?

As if knowing what was on their minds, the Sky Vault system said, “This time, you will indeed return.”

The emphasis in the statement made everyone start to believe.

Could they finally return to the third second after they were abducted, back to their original era?

The Sky system continued to explain: “Unfortunately, due to the nature of the 【Rubik’s Cube】 task, which lacks a time axis, to ensure the integrity of the timeline, your return time has been adjusted to the moment in 1456 when Sky discovered your disappearance. Additionally, since not everyone in the 【Rubik’s Cube】 task completed the settlement, you will not be able to return to the original point of your journey with your teammates. Therefore, you and your teammates will return in batches.”

Someone didn’t complete the settlement?

Duan Wen’s expression changed: “Li Chun?!”

Sky system: “Yes. Do not worry, he just needs to complete a simple B-level task to make up the points and will return later.”

“Damn it!!! What kind of rule is this?”

“Do you think you’re a teacher who can change the quiz rules whenever you want?! You’re just a broken system!”

“Can I exchange my reward to bring Chun’er back?”

Sky system: “Sorry, that exchange is not possible. This task carries no danger, so you need not worry.”

Everyone started cursing.

How could Li Chun complete any task on his own?

As expected, the Sky system continued: “To ensure the new task is completed smoothly and quickly, you may choose to leave one team member behind to assist in completing the task.”

Everyone: “…”

This was so sneaky!

What kind of shameless, ridiculous system was this?!

“Then we might as well all stay,” Tang Qi said. “One more task doesn’t make much difference.”

“If we stay, we stay.”

“I’ll definitely beat him up this time.”

While everyone was arguing, Ji Yushi remained silent.

“Enough.” Song Qinglan’s voice cut through, sweeping his gaze over everyone. “You all go back; I’ll stay.”

“If one stays, we all stay.”

“The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home!”

“No, if one leaves, we all leave; if one stays, we all stay!”

Song Qinglan raised his eyes and looked at Ji Yushi again: “It’s just a B-level task; I’m enough to handle it. You all have things you want to do. The sooner you go back, the sooner you can finish your reports and psychological evaluations, and the sooner you can get on with your lives.”

Song Qinglan added, “Or do you think I can’t even complete a simple task? Do you think I can’t handle this?”

The group fell silent.

Zhou Mingxuan quickly spoke up: “Well, I don’t have much to miss if I go back, so I’ll stay with you.”

Song Qinglan smirked: “Fine, Old Zhou will stay, the rest of you don’t need to.”

The Sky system spoke up just in time: “Song Qinglan, Zhou Mingxuan, welcome to stay and complete the B-level task. Your rewards will be preserved.”

The decision was made, and Sky had achieved its goal, leading to another round of cursing from the group.

They surrounded Song Qinglan and Zhou Mingxuan.

With the two of them staying, they should be able to complete the B-level task with Li Chun.

From the start until now, through tasks like 【Ouroboros】, 【Chaos】, 【Who Am I】, and 【Rubik’s Cube】, the group had been united and had endured many hardships.

Each of them was desperate to go home. Tang Le was on the verge of tears, and Tang Qi held her head in his arms.

Even Duan Wen’s eyes were red.

“Hold back your tears. We might return just a few seconds after you do,” Song Qinglan said casually, coldly and arrogantly, successfully stopping the emotional scene.

Then, in front of everyone, Song Qinglan turned to Ji Yushi and said, “Consultant Ji.”

For Ji Yushi, it had been over ten hours since he and Song Qinglan had separated.

Song Qinglan’s tone made his heart skip a beat, and he looked up to see an indescribable emotion in Song Qinglan’s eyes. It was as if he was angry or frustrated. Whatever it was, it made Ji Yushi feel that something had changed in Song Qinglan during those few hours.

“When we get back, I have something to talk to you about.” Song Qinglan’s tone was a bit stern, but it lacked the commanding quality typical of a captain. “There’s something I hope you’ll seriously consider.”

Everyone else was puzzled.

Captain Song didn’t seem to be trying to persuade Consultant Ji to stay again.

Instead, there was a sense of finality in his words, as if he had made up his mind, causing everyone to look at each other in confusion.

Ji Yushi replied, “…I don’t know where I’ll be at that time.”

Song Qinglan almost immediately understood what he meant.

Ten years ago… that accident.

Song Qinglan straightforwardly said, “Then don’t go back just yet.”

The brilliant lights formed a timeline, making Ji Yushi’s pale face appear cold, just like when they first met.

He didn’t directly answer the question but instead easily twisted it into something else: “I miss my cat.”

Four capsule pods appeared not far away, glowing with fluorescent light.

Ji Yushi hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Song Qinglan grabbed him by the shoulder.

The handsome young man with stubble and a rebellious aura had an oppressive presence that no one dared to meet his gaze for more than a few seconds.

Ji Yushi wanted to turn his face away, but before he could, Song Qinglan almost bit out his words, “Wait for me, I’ll go with you.”

Ji Yushi’s heart raced.

He knew their teammates were watching them, but Song Qinglan didn’t seem to care at all.

He didn’t know how this scene looked to them, but before he could respond, Song Qinglan, almost through gritted teeth, continued, “Ji Yushi, did you hear me? That year, I’ll go with you.”

Ji Yushi didn’t answer.

The few seconds of silence felt like several years, long enough for Song Qinglan to think Ji Yushi would refuse, long enough for him to almost harden his heart and ask Ji Yushi to take Zhou Mingxuan’s place and stay with him in the next unknown task.

But Song Qinglan couldn’t do it.

That would be too cruel for Ji Yushi.

However, Ji Yushi finally looked up and softly said, “Hasalamu.”

The strange pronunciation made Song Qinglan pause: “What does that mean?”

He quickly realized it was the bearded man’s language.

Ji Yushi blinked and said, “I hope your B-level task goes smoothly.”